The First Stroke
by Kristine Angela Booth
Summary: On the Miraculous Amino, there was a challenge to write a story based on this prompt: ["I totally have a boyfriend! He's, uh, Chat Noir! Yeah, Chat Noir!" "Oh really? Well, I'll believe it when he shows up with you." /Great. Now I have to bring Chat Noir. How am I going to explain this to him?/] This is my story based on that prompt.


Adrien had no idea what his week was going to become when he awoke that morning. Things at his house went by like normal - a quiet breakfast in the vast and empty dining room before Nathalie came to give him his schedule for the day.

He looked over the tablet, shocked to see that his normal Chinese lesson was not included on the schedule.

"Why don't I have Chinese today?" Adrien asked, looking up at his father's assistant while he handed back to tablet.

"He is going on a short vacation, so you have the week off of lessons," she said, tucking the item into the crook of her elbow. "You should get going, your bodyguard is waiting for you in the car."

A smile spread over Adrien's face and he nodded. "Thank you, Nathalie." He grabbed his bag and hurried out to the familiar silver car that drove him to school everyday.

The drive over was boring as usual without his bodyguard saying a single word. Adrien stared out the window, thinking about his suddenly free week. Sure, he still had his other lessons, but with no Chinese and no photoshoots, it was surprisingly open. All that remained was figuring out what to do with that time.

When he got to the school, it seemed that some of his problem was solved. His friends were standing in front of the stairs talking. A lot of the school was scattered around, but Nino, Alya, and Marinette were standing in a cluster together.

"Hey, dude!" Nino said as he walked up to them. "How would you feel about going to the Louvre this week?"

"Nino and I want to go with Marinette, but she says she doesn't want to feel like a third wheel. You in?" Alya asked, giving Marinette a sly look Adrien didn't fully understand. He chose to ignore it - this happened often between the girls.

"That could be fun. I'll have to ask my father, but when do you want to go?" Adrien asked, smiling.

"We were thinking about going Thursday, but we can change it if you've got a lesson or something," Nino said.

Adrien nodded. "My Chinese lessons were cancelled for the week, so I've got Thursday wide open."

"Hear that, Marinette? We may have a double date!" Alya said teasingly, elbowing the girl who, up until that point, had apparently been in stunned silence. Right before his eyes, her cheeks became a rosy pink.

The three of them laughed as she stuttered a response. "A-a date double? I mean, a double date? But it can't possibly be a double date, I mean-"

"Of course it's not! Like my Adrikins would go on a date with _you_ ," Chloe's snide remark came out of nowhere as the girl approached with Sabrina on her heels. She wrapped her arms around Adrien's and gave the other three disdainful looks.

"Really, Chloe?" Adrien said with a sigh, looking down at his friend disapprovingly. Then, he switched his gaze to Marinette and smiled. "I think that any guy would be lucky to date Marinette."

Chloe scoffed. "Seriously? Five minutes in they would run for the hills! Like she'd ever make it so far as to go on multiple dates. Sabrina, can you imagine? Marinette with a boyfriend?"

Both Marinette and Alya glared at the girl hanging onto his arm.

"For your information, Chloe, I was going to say that it can't be a double date because I already have a boyfriend," Marinette said before anyone else could respond. As the words came out of her mouth, she managed to become a deeper shade of red.

"A boyfriend, you?" Chloe asked in disbelief.

Alya stared at her best friend as well, clearly torn between shock and disbelief.

Marinette's face screwed up in anger, crossing her arms defiantly at Chloe. "I totally have a boyfriend!" She paused for half a second, as if searching for a name. "He's, uh, Chat Noir! Yeah, Chat Noir!"

 _WHAT?!_

Adrien's eyes widened, and he almost tripped despite remaining stationary. "O-oh, really?" he asked in shock. He thought back to every single encounter he had had with Marinette as Chat Noir. There had only been the one time during Evillustrator that they had really interacted in any significant way.

 _She's GOT to be bluffing._

"You're dating Chat Noir?" Nino asked.

While Adrien was left more confused than he had ever been, Alya just rolled her eyes. "Well, I'll believe it when he shows up with you," she said.

Marinette's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"As much as I hate it, I'm with the little blogger here," Chloe said - adding yet another surprise to the situation. "If you're really dating Chat Noir, then you have to bring him to whatever thing you're doing."

Both Adrien and Marinette gulped. A spark of fear shown in her bluebell eyes, somehow giving Adrien a bit of calm.

"I, uh, I don't know if he'll be able to come…" Marinette reasoned, moving her arms awkwardly.

Alya shook her head. "No, girl. If you really are dating Chat Noir, I need proof! I mean, he's got to meet your best friend at some point, right?"

The bluenette deflated slightly. "I-I guess so…"

"Then we'll see both you and Chat Noir at the Louvre on Thursday," Alya said. "C'mon, let's get to class."

They all started heading to class, and Adrien couldn't help but notice the look of despair on his friend's face. She'd obviously panicked and said the first name that had come to mind. Unfortunately, that name had been him.

 _Although, a date with Marinette wouldn't be so bad._

* * *

 _Great. Now I have to bring Chat Noir. How am I going to explain this to him?_

All Marinette wanted to do was lay her head on her desk and melt away from embarrassment. If she did that, however, everyone would know that she had been lying. To make matters worse, what she said spread very quickly thanks to Chloe. By the time she and Alya walked back into the classroom from lunch, everyone was talking about it.

"Are you really dating Chat Noir?" Kim asked as they walked inside. The rest of the class was just breaking up from a crowd that had clearly been listening to the diva princess.

"Oh, uh, I, uh, yeah!" Marinette said, startled by the suddenness of the question. She shot a glare at Chloe, who gave her a smug smirk. "That got out, did it?"

Max walked up next to his best friend, nodding. "Chloe told us that you were going to bring him to the Louvre for a double date. I cannot say I am surprised, however. You often disappear during akuma attacks, so I can only assume that either he or Ladybug is bringing you somewhere safe."

 _Yeah, sure._

Marinette laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yeah, totally! You know Chat Noir, he's very protective."

She groaned inwardly. Why would she say that? 'Very protective'? Sure he could be like that with Ladybug, but Ladybug was always in the middle of the danger. As far as he would know, Marinette was always very far from it.

Thankfully, she was saved from more comments and questions by Miss Bustier walking in to begin class. They all took their seats, and Marinette had a brief respite from her various worries as the lesson started.

Eventually, though, school had to end. At least half of the class was crowded around her desk before she could even put her things into her bag.

"How long have you been dating Chat Noir?"

"What's Chat Noir really like?"

"Where do you go for your dates?"

"Do you know who he really is?"

All of the questions came so fast that she could barely make any of them out. It was as if every single one of their classmates wanted to know every detail of her fake dating life. Thankfully, two of her friends came to her rescue.

"Hey guys, let's leave the girl alone. No one really likes to be grilled about their private life," Alya said, hands on hips as she faced the rest of their class.

"Yeah, I'm sure that she wants to keep her and Chat Noir's privacy," Adrien said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He gave her a mind-melting smile, causing the blood to rush to her cheeks.

 _Why did I have to tell him I had a boyfriend? I'll never be able to go on a date with him if he thinks I'm dating Chat Noir!_

"But, are you really going to be going on a date to the Louvre?" Alix asked as the class slowly and awkwardly split up.

"Uh, yeah, maybe," Marinette said, desperately hoping that would get them off her back for now. If she said anything else, it would just make the hole she had dug herself deeper than it already was. With the size of her lie, she already felt like she had to look up to see the edge. Convincing Chat Noir to go on a date with her was going to be impossible.

"That's totally awesome. I can't believe you're actually dating Chat Noir!" she said in awe.

Marinette laughed feebly, nodding. "Th-that's me. Chat Noir's girlfriend."

As she said the words, she looked over to find Adrien. She wanted to gauge his reaction, but he and Nino had already left. Once again, she felt like she just wanted to lay her head on her desk and groan. Getting Adrien to see her as anything but a friend was going to be more impossible than getting Chat to go out with her.

Leaving the school took longer than usual that day with people constantly stopping her and Alya to ask about Chat Noir. Marinette only just managed to find believable answers to avoid giving any real information. When asked when they started dating, she replied with an awkward "It feels like forever." When asked how they'd kept it a secret, she said, "Superheroes have their own tricks."

Thankfully, she did eventually manage to get away from the questions. She said goodbye to Alya, and started in the direction of her house. Her thoughts quickly strayed to her predicament. There was no way she could get out of this completely unscathed without bringing Chat Noir to the Louvre.

"Tikki, what am I supposed to do? I don't even see Chat Noir when I'm not Ladybug!" she groaned.

The red kwami poked her head out of the purse, looking up at her friend. "You shouldn't have lied, Marinette. There's no shame in not having a boyfriend."

"I know, but she just has a knack for making me angry. The words just came out," she said, glancing down at her small purse.

Tikki sighed, giving Marinette a sympathetic look. "You're going to have to tell them. The chances of running into Chat Noir are-" Suddenly, the kwami's eyes widened and she hurried back into her hiding spot.

Marinette looked up as a black shape dropped down in front of her. Startled, she fell backward. Before she could fall all the way back, however, leather-clad hands grabbed ahold of her arms. Strong arms helped her stand up straight.

When she glanced up at her savior, her bluebell gaze met green cat-like eyes.

"So, I hear that you've been chatting about me?" Chat Noir asked.

* * *

The second he had gotten home, he had rushed to his room. Putting the piano recording on so no one would walk in on the empty room, he had immediately left as Chat Noir.

The entire day, he had thought about what to do. While he'd been looking forward to some freedom outside of the mask for once, he also hated the idea of Marinette having to deal with the outcome of her lie. When he'd left, he still hadn't decided what he was going to do.

Even now, as he stood before his friend, he hadn't made his decision.

Chat Noir smiled down at his bewildered classmate, taking his hands off of hers when she was standing steady once again.

"I, uh, yeah. H-how did you hear about that?" she asked, her cheeks just as red as earlier that morning. The sight made his grin widened.

"We superheroes have our ways," he said with a wink. "But why, exactly, did you say that I was your boyfriend? Last I checked, saving you from Evillustrator wasn't a date."

Marinette groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry, Chat Noir. My classmate Chloe," she said the name angrily, "was saying that I could never have a boyfriend, and all I wanted to do was prove her wrong. Yours was the first name that came to mind…"

 _Okay, that explains that. But…_

"Why was I the one you thought of?" Chat asked one of the questions that had been pressing on his mind. He was famous, sure, but most people wouldn't think of him as the single person they could fake date. Of the people they both knew, Chat would have guessed Nathaniel to be the best option as her fake boyfriend.

"Well, uh, b-because of my friend Alya! She writes the Ladyblog, and she was there, so I guess you and Ladybug were on my mind. And now my entire class thinks I'm dating you, and I'm going to have to tell them the truth, which could only end in the most embarrassing moment of my life. I'm sorry, Chat Noir, I just-"

He saw the ashamed look on her face, and immediate made his decision.

Chat leaned forward so his face was level with hers, forcing her to look into his eyes. "You just panicked, no big deal. It doesn't have to end in the most embarrassing moment of your life, either," he said, a wicked gleam in his eye.

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked, suspicion and curiosity shining in her own eyes.

He took a step backward, bowed dramatically, and held his hand out to Marinette. "Would you like to go on a date with me this Thursday?" Chat asked teasingly.

"W-what?" she exclaimed, staring at his hand like it was a snake primed to bite her. "A date? Us?"

Chat straightened, retracting his hand. "Well, I'd hate to see you be embarrassed around all of your friends. Besides, my week just opened up. What do you say? Will you be my Purrincess?"

Marinette snorted, visibly relaxing. "You really want to go on a date with my friends and I? We're just going to the Louvre, so it's not going to be super interesting…"

"Anything can be interesting if you have the right company," he said, moving to stand next to her and sling his arm over her shoulders. "If your friends are anything like you, I'm sure it'll be a lovely evening."

"Oh, my friends are so much better than me! You'll love them!" she said quickly, talking them up on instinct. The way she spoke about her friends always astounded him. She was always the first to help people when they needed it.

 _Kind of like Ladybug does._

"Then it's a date! You can assure all of your friends that I'll be there. I'm sure that you have your own things to do right now, but I'll come find you Wednesday to make plans for the date." He removed his arm from her shoulder and started walking away, going backwards so he could still see her shocked features.

"Goodbye, Princess," he called. Chat waved, then turned and propelled himself into a nearby roof with his staff.

* * *

"What's got you so smiley, dude? I thought you said your father wasn't letting you out," Nino commented as their classmates started to file out of the classroom.

It was the day after Adrien had made his date with Marinette official, and he found that he was much happier about the idea than he'd expected. It wasn't as if he'd dreaded the idea in the first place, but whenever he thought about it he grinned ear-to-ear. And with Marinette confirming Chat's appearance, his classmates mentioned it a lot.

"I know, but today just seems like a good say," Adrien said with a shrug.

Nino shook his head. "I'll never understand you, bro. Well, if you can't hang out on Thursday, are you able to hang today?"

As the they left the class, Adrien thought back to the schedule Nathalie had shown him that morning. "I've got my fencing class, but I'm free after that."

"Sweet. See you then."

They parted ways - Adrien going to change for his fencing class, and Nino going to the library to meet up with Alya. In the locker room, Plagg moved into his duffel bag with a fresh wedge of camembert. Adrien just rolled his eyes before putting on his gear and going out to the courtyard with the rest of his class.

About halfway through the practice, he saw someone entering the school from the corner of his eye. He cast a brief glance toward the entrance and saw Chloe walking around the edge of the courtyard. When his match ended, he lied about needing a drink or water so he could step away.

"What are you doing here, Chloe?" Adrien asked as he approached her.

She looked up from her phone and smiled. "I'm here to see you, of course! We didn't get the chance to talk this morning, and I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to the Louvre with me on Thursday. I've got to see the look on Baker-Girl's face when her precious 'boyfriend' doesn't show up."

Adrien sighed. "I wasn't lying when I said my father won't let me go. And I don't think Marinette would lie about dating somebody." He fought the smile as he was once again faced with the thought of his date.

"He won't even let you go for me?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Sorry, Chlo. I'm out for the day on Thursday. You'll have to go with somebody else," he said.

She crossed her arms in an angry pout. "Come on, I know that you don't have Chinese this week. He's got to let you come with ME."

"You know my father. He's not going to let me to even if the Prime Minister was going to be there." He glanced behind him all of the practicing fencers. "Sorry I can't go, but I've got to get back to class. I'll see you tomorrow."

Adrien smiled, then put his helmet on and returned to practice.

* * *

The next evening, Adrien stood in his room preparing to leave to see Marinette. He pulled out his phone to start the recording of his playing.

"You seem really excited," Plagg said." Is this all about seeing Marinette?"

Adrien didn't need a mirror to know that a slight pink tinge had flushed his cheeks. "She's my friend, am I not allowed to be excited to hang out with her?"

"You can be excited all you want, but I've only ever seen you this excited over Ladybug," the kwami teased. "I think you've got a crush on Marinette!"

 _I can't have a crush on Marinette! ... Can I? I haven't been able to stop thinking about the date..._

He shook his head, not wanting to think too much about the answer. "Plagg, Claws Out!"

Opening a window, Chat Noir leapt through to leave the house. He ran across Parisian rooftops until Marinette's balcony was in sight. She was sitting on a chair, working away in a sketchbook on her lap.

The concentrated look on her face made him smile once more. He landed in front of her, his smile becoming a grin when she jumped.

"Nice to see you too, Princess. Are you feline ready to plan our date?" he said.

As they talked, he was glad that Marinette seemed much more relaxed than when they'd last spoke. In fact, she was more relaxed than she ever dreamed around him as Adrien. She was joking and confident, as if some invisible stressor was gone.

Thursday morning, everyone in their school was a buzz with conversation of his friend's coming date. Apparently, word of Marinette's boyfriend had spread quickly. Adrien was used to Chat Noir being mentioned, but his name had never been mentioned this much since he first got his Miraculous. Having Marinette's name used in tandem with his so often only made it weirder.

The entire school day went by filled with an excited energy. It was as if everyone they knew was planning to go meet Chat Noir at the Louvre.

 _If things keep going like this, I'll be on a date with the entire school and not just Marinette._

When the school day ended, Adrien bid his friends a quick farewell. "Have fun on your date, Marinette," he said, unable to resist. Waving to all of them, he got into the silver car that sat waiting for him. The date was faking place shortly, and he had no time to waste with the piano practice he had to squeeze in beforehand. He didn't know when the date would end, and needed to limit suspicion by his father or Nathalie.

As soon as he was inside his bedroom, Adrien staffed work on his piano piece. His practice session felt painstakingly slow even though he knew he had to be rushing it.

Finally, he felt comfortable that he had spent enough time on it to appease his father. Unfortunately, it meant he was going to be late.

Telling Nathalie that he was working and didn't want to he disturbed, he locked his door. Plagg didn't even have time to complain before he was transformed and out the window.

When he arrived at the Louvre, all of his friends were waiting outside.

"We were supposed to go inside ten minutes ago. Is your so-called boyfriend going to show up at all?" Chloe asked, folding her arms as she looked at Marinette. Sabrina stood behind her, mimicking her stance, and Kim was smirking on her other side.

"H-he's coming! I swear, we talked yesterday about-" Marinette's words cut off when he landed next to her and draped an arm over her shoulders.

"Sorry I'm late, Princess, I got a bit caught up in things,' he said, winking down at her.

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. "It's about time. I was starting to get worried, Kitty Cat." She tapped him lightly on the nose and they both grinned.

Everyone gaped at the two of them, stunned into silence.

"No. Freaking. Way!" Alya finally exclaimed. "You're actually dating Chat Noir! I can't believe it, this is amazing!"

Kim was the next one to speak. "She wasn't lying, you're really Chat Noir!"

Chat did a salute with two fingers. "In the flesh." He looked around at all of them? Then to the giant glass pyramid. "What do you say that we get this date started?"

They went into the museum, everyone still in awe. As they walked through, he never once removed his arm from around Marinette. At first, he did it as a constant reminder to the others of their "dating", but after a while he just became comfortable with it. It was as if they just started to melt into each other.

Their whole group laughed and joked except for Chloe, who still seemed shocked to find out Marinette was actually dating him. He gave her a smile every once in a while in an attempt to include her, but she made no attempts to engage anyone but Sabrina and Kim.

Towards the end of their tour, he gave up trying and focused on Marinette. Chat loved every new thing he learned about her. How she made some of her own clothes, that Jagged Stone was her favorite singer, and he even loved to learn that his father was her favorite fashion designer.

At the end of the night, everyone split up as they left the museum. Even Alya and Nino went their own way. Chat Noir looked down at Marinette, a peaceful smile on his face. He hadn't noticed how beautiful she was before.

"Would you like it if I took you home?" he asked, motioning upward.

Marinette shrugged. "I'd like that," she said.

He picked her up and jumped with his Miraculous-enhanced legs. Going towards her house, he saw her staring out at the skyline.

Not wanting the look on her face to end, he took a scenic route to get to the bakery. Eventually, however, he had to drop down in front of her home.

After he set her down, they stood there for a moment - simply looking into each other's eyes. Her's were a stunning light blue that seemed to pierce his soul. Finally, they tore their eyes apart.

"Thank you, Chat Noir. You're a lifesaver," she said. Then she turned and headed for the bakery. Her hand was on the doorknob when he stopped her.

"Marinette, wait!"

She turned to him, startled. "What is it?"

Chat took a deep breath, then met her eyes again. "Would you like to go on a real first date with me?" he asked.

The moment that followed was an agonizing wait. Luckily, however, it ended in a word that was like music to his ears.

"Yes."


End file.
